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The most inclusive collection of creative nonfiction available, Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth is the only anthology that brings together examples of all three of the main forms in the genre: the literary memoir, the personal essay, and literary journalism. Featuring a generous and diverse sampling of more than sixty works, this collection includes beautiful, disturbing, and instructive works of literary memoir by such writers as Mary McCarthy, Annie Dillard, and Judy Ruiz; smart, funny, and moving personal essays by authors ranging from E.B. White to Phillip Lopate to Ntozake Shange; and incisive, vivid, and quirky examples of literary journalism by Truman Capote, Barbara Ehrenreich, Sebastian Junger, and many others. This unique volume also contains examples of captivating nature writing, exciting literary travel writing, brilliant essays in science, surprising creative cultural criticism, and moving literary diaries and journals, incorporating several classic selections to set a context for the contemporary work. The editor's general introduction and introductions to each of the five sections provide useful definitions, crucial history, critical context, and abundant issues to debate. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in creative nonfiction, literary journalism, essay writing, and all levels of composition, Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth is also an essential resource for all nonfiction writers, from novices to professionals.

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Table of Contents

Credits
IntroductionSECTION 1. LITERARY DIARIES AND JOURNALSJohn Cheever
from The JournalsMay Sarton
from Journal of a SolitudeGerald Early
"Digressions"M.F.K. Fisher
"Paris Journal"George Dennison
from TempleGretel Ehrlich
"From the Journals"Edward Robb Ellis
from Diary of a CenturySECTION 2. LITERARY MEMOIRJames Thurber
"Snapshot of a Dog"Mary McCarthy
"Yonder Peasant, Who Is He?" from Memories of a Catholic GirlhoodAnnie Dillard
from An American ChildhoodMaxine Hong Kingston
"No Name Woman," from The Woman WarriorHilton Als
"Notes on My Mother"Andre Dubus III
"Tracks and Ties"Kathryn Harrison
from The KissDorothy Allison
from Two or Three Things I Know for SureAndre Dubus
"Lights of the Long Night" and "Husbands," from Broken VesselsFenton Johnson
from Geography of the HeartMary Karr
from The Liar's ClubJudy Ruiz
"Oranges and Sweet Sister Boy"Spalding Gray
"Sex and Death to the Age 14"Tobias Wolff
"A Federal Offense," from In Pharaoh's ArmyHarvey Pekar and R. Crumb
"The Harvey Pekar Name Story"SECTION 3. THE PERSONAL ESSAYE.B. White
"Once More to the Lake"James Baldwin
"Equal in Paris," from Notes of a Native SonRalph Ellison
"On Being the Target of Discrimination"Shirley Abbott
"That Old-Time Religion," from WomenfolksHayden Carruth
"Country Matters"Philip Lopate
"The Dead Father: A Rememberance of Donald Barthelme"Vivian Gornick
"At the University: Little Murders of the Soul"Jamaica Kincaid
"A Small Place"Nancy Mairs
"Body in Trouble," from Waist-High in the WorldHenry Louis Gates, Jr.
"Current Events," from Colored PeopleThomas Lynch
"The Undertaking"Jane Shapiro
"This is What You Need for a Happy Life"Joy Williams
"Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp"Ntozake Shange
"What Is It We Really Harvestin' Here?"Stanton Michaels
"How to Write a Personal Essay"SECTION 4. LITERARY JOURNALISMJohn Hersey
"The Fire," from HiroshimaTruman Capote
from In Cold BloodMichael Herr
"Illumination Rounds," from DispatchesNorman Mailer
"The Turkey Shoot," from The Executioner's SongMikal Gilmore
"Last Words," from Shot in the HeartJoyce Johnson
"November 1987," from What Lisa KnewBarbara Ehrenreich
"Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America"Ann Hodgman
"No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch"Joan Didion
from SalvadorTom Wolfe
"Yeager," from The Right StuffJon Krakauer
"Summit, 1:25p.m., May 10, 1996, 29,028 Feet" from Into Thin AirSebastian Junger
"The Zero-Moment Point," from The Perfect StormSECTION 5. THE ART OF THE PARTICULAR: CREATIVE NONFICTION CLASSIFIED BY SUBJECTNATURE WRITINGEdward Abbey
Memoir: "Havasu," from Desert SolitaireSue Hubbell
Personal Essay: "Spring," from A Country YearJohn McPhee
Literary Journalism: from Annals of the Former WorldLITERARY TRAVELGretel Ehrlich
Memoir: "Lijiang," from Questions of HeavenNaomi Shihab Nye
Personal Essay: "One Village"Eddy L. Harris
Literary Journalism: from Mississippi SoloTHE SCIENCE ESSAYElizabeth Marshall Thomas
Memoir: from The Hidden Life of DogsLewis Thomas
Personal Essay: "The Medusa and the Snail"Atul Gawande
Literary Journalism: "When Doctors Make Mistakes"CREATIVE CULTURAL CRITICISMMeghan Daum
Memoir: Music Is My Bag: Confessions of a Lapsed Oboist"Janet Malcolm
Personal Essay: from The Silent WomanDavid Foster Wallace
Literary Journalism: "Shipping Out: On the (Nearly Lethal) Comforts of a Luxury Cruise

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Excellent for Writers

No matter what form of writing you are most active in, this book is brilliant. The ideas that are presented are simply that and Roorbach makes it clear that some of the strategies he talked about will not work for everyone. Even readers who are not writers will love the essays and works of creative nonfiction that are used in this book. It allows the reader/writer to get a grasp of different genres of creative nonfiction and then see examples of each of them. Excellent choice for writers all over. I was originally introduced to this book in a college writing course and unlike some writing books I was introduced to, actually found it helpful without being preachy. Is a little pricey.

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Anonymous

Posted October 27, 2003

Maxims

Bill Roorbach¿s The Art of Truth was an inspirational read that every student of creative nonfiction should be reading. The introduction provides an astounding trove of knowledge concerning the fourth genre. Chapter introductions and selections are essential tools. Here are some maxims from Roorbach I¿ll consult as I write--best advice for writers since Aristotle's Poetics. There's plenty more in the book, which makes it worth a lot more than $39.95. 1. Potatoes never get onto the page. 2. Aim for the palate of the imagination. 3. People are often uncomfortable with truth, but deserve it. 4. Nothing is easy in creative nonfiction. 5. Good faith is the key. 6. Good creative nonfiction confounds expectation. 7. Writers take risks. 8. Use every tool at your disposal: voice, language, drama, passion, characters, literary talent, and learning. 9. Marks on the page are never the reality they evoke or attempt to evoke, and can never be. 10. Always attempt to recover some form of experience. 11. Memory is as faulty as knowledge. 12. Verifiable accuracy takes second place to truth of voice. 13. Creative nonfiction aspires to art. 14. Don¿t worry about the label; just get to work making art. 15. Opposing camps are just camps no matter what weapons they pull out and no matter what casualties they cause or take. 16. The common denominator is humanity. 17. Literature must have life to last. 18. Keep the breast meat moist. 19. Time tells the difference between good and bad writing. 20. Essays last, fictions pass. 21. There is room on the big shelf for all. 22. Language makes all other values possible. 23. The spell of the real is different from the spell of fiction. 24. All creative nonfiction must have a discernable self at center: the writer. 25. Voice is important; the reader knows who¿s talking. 26. Representations of self wear many masks. 27. Nonfiction writers are true to the encyclopedia of self. 28. The subject is crucial from beginning through middle to end. 29. Extraordinary coincidence is a source of great fun and mystery and depth in nonfiction. 30. Creative nonfiction makes probable impossibility possible. 31. Creative nonfiction is not formulaic, mediocre, or commercial writing. 32. Good creative fiction is smart.

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